


steady with wintry calm

by sawuhs



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, teen for swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-22
Updated: 2013-02-22
Packaged: 2017-12-03 06:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/694971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sawuhs/pseuds/sawuhs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur wakes up one morning before Merlin, only to contemplate how far they've come together in just a span of six months.</p>
            </blockquote>





	steady with wintry calm

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone who helped me beta this. I'm useless without you lot. c:

When Arthur looks at the digital clock on the nightstand, it reads 5:38 in the morning. The electric red glow is bright enough to reflect off the sheets, but it has long grown to become something of comfort. So Arthur doesn't mind it, and Merlin doesn’t mind it either.

Sighing, Arthur turns away from the clock, breath stuttering from the cold. He is almost sure he'll be unable to fall back asleep: his body warmth is already quickly fading away from him. Beside Arthur, Merlin lays faced towards him, still sound asleep. He's curled neatly around a pillow, and the sight alone is enough for Arthur to forgive him for stealing all the sheets.

Arthur closes his eyes for a moment, focusing on the light snoring and occasional mumble coming from Merlin. When Merlin sighs something about chocolate ice-cream, Arthur smiles to himself with a huff and opens his eyes.

“Idiot,” he whispers, his eyes roaming over the red light that illuminates Merlin’s face.

He finds, on Merlin’s face, familiar things like a freckle one can only see if they know where it is, dark lashes that shadow and look long enough to touch the sharp of his cheekbones, and the gentle pout of Merlin’s lips. Arthur likes waking up to this, to watching Merlin fast asleep. It is only in the moments like this that Merlin looks so small and fragile, and Arthur is to be his protector.

(Because there are other times, when Arthur wakes up to find Merlin already awake and sitting by the windowsill, nursing a cup of tea or having a smoke, and Arthur likes how he feels like he’s the one being protected instead. The sheets that Merlin always rob away in the night will be wrapped tight around Arthur on these days, and Arthur will always curl up in it quietly, as if he isn’t awake.

There, he observes the shoulder blades that protrudes from Merlin’s back, and the dip between them, then the curve of his spine. Just sometimes, Arthur will think about how it arches under his slow and hot kisses, and how it feels when he slides his fingers along the ridges.

Arthur always saves Merlin’s face to be looked at last on these days, letting his breath hitch as he watches Merlin suck on the cigarette or sip the tea.

And as his breath is hitched, he’ll hold it and make his way to Merlin, stealing smoky kisses that are always returned back to him.)

Arthur likes to think that between him and Merlin, he is the one that takes care of them. But that’s a complete lie, he knows and will never admit, Merlin is always the stronger and more resilient one, despite how different it may seem to everyone else. Arthur knows that Merlin is so much more than just the boy who wears his heart on his sleeve.

It’s just those rare, quiet moments that has Arthur contemplating about all the things they’ve been through together; it has only been six short months. He can’t help but wonder, if Merlin ever leaves— and it would be Merlin who leaves, Arthur knows— would he ever be able to find anyone else to share nights like this with.

Judging from the way Merlin brings vibrancy into his life, Arthur supposes that _no_ , there can never be anyone like Merlin.

(Because it’s only Merlin who bounds into their apartment with takeaway or groceries from his shop, yelling Arthur’s name at the top of his lungs that sometimes cause their neighbours to thump agitatedly at the walls to get Merlin to shut it. It doesn’t matter that Merlin will always find an exhausted Arthur draped on the couch that is, rather pathetically, situated near the front door, he’ll shout for Arthur anyway.

And if it’s takeaway that night, Merlin will place himself on the small space of the couch next to Arthur’s hip and drop the bag of food on Arthur’s chest, rubbing Arthur’s arm affectionately afterwards. “Arthur,” he’ll call softly a second time, and they’ll have their dinner on this almost lumpy couch. Merlin will have moved to place himself between Arthur’s legs, and Arthur will stay laying down no matter how much Merlin says he shouldn’t do that when he eats.

But if it’s Merlin who cooks that night, Merlin will kiss Arthur quickly on the forehead instead and go fuss around in the kitchen, swaying his hips to light jazz music. Arthur will always lay on his side so that he can peer into the kitchen, and converse with Merlin as he cooks. They’ll have dinner later, by the coffee table, and one of them will moan about how they’ll never be able to get a proper dining table in this apartment of theirs.)

Arthur shivers with silent laughter when he thinks about how Merlin has gone and ruined all possible relationships for him. There can definitely be no one else but Merlin, Arthur acknowledges. This’ll be his little secret to keep for now. Merlin can find out about it one day, maybe, but Arthur doesn’t know if he should let Merlin in on this any time soon.

It’s only been six sodding months.

If anyone at all had asked Arthur about his previous relationships, Arthur would have said _no_ , he is sure he wouldn’t have lasted with any of them. Not even that one girl he dated for three years, even when at one point in time everyone thought they’d have gotten married and live happily ever after like in fairy tales. He had never been sure of her, but she had guessed as much from the way Arthur drifted away once he first laid eyes on Merlin. She never blamed Arthur for it, Merlin has always been the kind of person who easily finds a place in anyone’s heart and leaves a piece of himself there.

But Arthur, well, he’s never been so grateful to have had such an understanding girlfriend like her. They’re still friends now, best friends even. She sometimes drops by with her new boyfriend and they’ll all go out for a pint together.

To this day, Arthur is still surprised at how well Merlin and him works together, considering how much of an utter prat he had been to Merlin at the very beginning.

(Because a month after Arthur had a mutual break up with his girlfriend, the first thing he had ever said to Merlin went something like this:

“Tell me, _Mer_ lin. Do you know how to walk on your knees? ‘Cause you look like you’re one who can do it well, so I was thinking— Maybe we should go out sometime.”

In Arthur’s defence, it _really_  wasn’t what he had first intended to say. For two whole days before, he had gone over in his head what he wanted to tell Merlin. It was going to be something romantic and perfect, but then Merlin had to appear with his stupid grin and make Arthur a blithering idiot. So it really wasn’t Arthur’s fault. It was Merlin’s. Definitely Merlin’s.

Anyway, Merlin’s response had gone something along the lines of yelling at Arthur about how much of a wanker he was for daring to try and cheat on his girlfriend— Merlin was late to the news, apparently— especially when Merlin knew her and everything. Due to them being outside a café, they had attracted quite a crowd, and Merlin wouldn’t stop telling Arthur off no matter how much Arthur tried to explain the situation to Merlin.

Merlin had called Arthur a tosser another time for good measure afterwards, and left Arthur there gaping like a fish out of water.

Needless to say, Merlin found out about Arthur’s break up just about a day later. He was going to apologise to Arthur, Arthur knew from one of their friends, but Arthur had beat him to it by appearing at his doorstep with flowers in his hands and an honest-to-God apology speech. It melted Merlin’s heart in a way, and even though he was still rather annoyed at what Arthur said to him, he had given in and they had gone on a proper date.)

Okay, he wasn’t that much of a prat. More like a smitten fool who had no control of his mind and chose to use his cock to talk instead in the spur of the moment. Fucking ace, Arthur, fucking ace.

Though Arthur wouldn’t have had it any different. Not with how Merlin is still here lying across him with his nose buried into the pillow that smells distinctly of them.

“Idiot,” Arthur whispers again, this time he’s tugging Merlin’s hair behind his ear. He doesn’t say how he likes that Merlin has grown his hair out, or how he likes being able to tangle his fingers better with it. What Arthur had said is— the _real_ idiot— how he was sure that Merlin grew his hair out so that he could hide his Dumbo ears.

He had almost received a punch for that, if it weren’t for Merlin knowing how Arthur actually felt about his ears.

Now that Arthur thinks of it, he can’t help but lean forward and nibble on them lightly, making Merlin stir just enough for him to give Arthur a right swat in the head before going back to snoring. Arthur scrunches his nose and nips on Merlin’s ear again, snickering when Merlin mutters something inaudible.

Arthur moves back to his original position and Merlin cracks open a lazy eye, glancing out the window to find the sky still pitch black. He closes his eyes again, and quietly croaks out, “Time?”

“Half past six,” Arthur replies, after he’s made a quick turn to glance at the clock.

“Go back to sleep,” Merlin groans, shoving his own head into the pillow. “It’s a Saturday, for Christ’s sake. The sun isn't even up yet.”

“Alright,” says Arthur, but doesn’t.

Arthur knows there are only so many precious days that he can hold dear when he is the first to wake up and watch after Merlin before the world watches him.


End file.
